On October 12, 2023, Diversity Lab announced that Wilson Sonsini has once again achieved Mansfield Certification Plus after participating in the 2022-2023 Mansfield Rule Certification process for large law firms.
With over 240 law firms achieving Mansfield Certification this cycle, the Mansfield Rule amplifies firm’s commitment to DEI by calling for law firms to track and measure that they have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent historically underrepresented attorneys including women, lawyers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ lawyers for top leadership roles.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Wilson Sonsini has achieved Mansfield Plus Certification, after previously participating in the Mansfield 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 programs. In addition, law firms like Wilson Sonsini that achieved Mansfield Certification Plus—which indicates that they have not only considered but achieved 30 percent representation of underrepresented lawyers in many of the Mansfield Rule’s categories—were asked to certify that diverse attorneys participated in formal pitches and were staffed on matters resulting from those pitch meetings.
The Mansfield Rule, named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman admitted to practice law in the United States, was one of the winning ideas from the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon, a pitch competition created by the Diversity Lab in collaboration with Stanford Law School and Bloomberg Law. The Rule aims to boost diversity in leadership by broadening the pool of talent through “consideration goals”—not quotas—for leadership roles. As of 2023, there are over 360 U.S., Canadian, and UK law firms, and more than 75 legal departments participating in the certification process.
As explained on the Mansfield Rule website, “The Mansfield Rule is a structured certification process designed to ensure all talent at participating law firms and legal departments have a fair and equal opportunity to advance into leadership. Mansfield is focused on broadening the talent pool for consideration, including those historically underrepresented in the legal profession, to facilitate transparent leadership pathways.”
Wilson Sonsini is currently participating in the 2023-2024 Mansfield Certification process. A complete list of participating law firms for the 2023-2024 cohort can be found here.